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In this interview, Lewistown residents Marion and Esther Burke discuss their early memories and experiences in Lewistown, Montana, including their work, local residents and customs, homesteading and ranching, organizations and businesses, and with an emphasis on education and the local schools

Creator

By Anna Zellick, F.C.H.S. Graduate, 1935, University of Chicago, A.B. 1941; M.A. 1945. Lecturer, College of Great Falls at Lewistown College Center.

Genre

newspapers

Type

Text

Date Original

1978-06-20

Subject (keyword)

Depressions--1929; Sheep Ranches;

Subject (AAT)

Schools; Dairy Farms;

Rights Management

No copyright restrictions.

Contributing Institution

Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, MT.

Publisher (Original)

Prepared for Ronald B. Mattson, Superintendent of Schools and Lewistown School District #1

Geographic Coverage

Fergus County, Montana. Lewistown, Montana

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Full text of this item

INTERVIEW WITH ESTHER DAHL BURKE
F.C.H.S. GRADUATE 1922
JUNE 20, 1978
BY ANNA ZELLICK
F.C.H.S. GRADUATE, 1935
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO— A.B. 1941; M.A. 1945
LECTURER, COLLEGE OF GREAT FALLS AT LEWISTOWN COLLEGE CENTER
PREPARED FOR DR. RONALD B. MATTSON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS AND LEWISTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 1
MR. DAVID L. MOODIE MRS. DONN R. PENNELL MR. WM. E. BERGER*
MRS. ROBERT L. JOHNSON MR. JOHN THUNE* MR. ALAN C. FOLDA
MR. AL MCRAE MRS. CHARLES W. WICKS MR. FOY MCCOLLUM
* SUCCEEDED BY MR, GEORGE THORSON AND MRS. JOE C. WICKS FOLLOWING ELECTION APRIL 4, 1978,
Interview:
I just finished interviewing Marion Burke, and now I have the same pleasure interviewing his wife, Esther Dahl Burke. It's a pleasure, Esther that I am able to visit with you, too. Give us, if you can a brief resume of your back¬ground. We're interested in knowing when you were born and about your educa¬tional career. Also, your mother was most interesting and, if time permits, we will refer to her.
Burke: I was born here in Lewistown on September 9, 1903. The funny part about it is both Marion and I had the same doctor.
Zellick: Who was he?
Burke: His name was Dr. H. H. Wilson. He was a well-known physician. And my mother, at that time, was living in Gilt Edge. She had the Claremont Hotel, I believe was the name of it. This was in Gilt Edge. My mother and father built this hotel which had a restaurant. They called it the "Eating House." It had several rooms. It had two stories. It was right across the street from Ed Rule's general store which included drugs and medicines, too.
Zellick: You're talking about Gilt Edge when it was a gold mining town? Burke: Before coming to Gilt Edge, my mother and father came to Montana from Nebraska. They were from Fremont and Scribner, Nebraska. They were married and started west. They went to Washington where my older sister, Cassie Dahl Pepper was born. She married John Pepper from Gilt Edge. My brother, Melvin George Dahl was born in Washington State. And they came with these two children. Then they came here to Montana where they lived from there on. They both died here in Lewistown. I believe when they came to Montana, their first stop was at Kendall.
Zellick: Which was another gold mining town.
Burke: My father was a miner. We worked in the mines here. I don't know whe¬ther mother started a restaurant there or not. I'm not sure about that part. Later on, they went to Gilt Edge, over the mountains from Kendall, where Mother started the restaurant. Later on, they built this hotel. As I said they called restaurants, in those days, the "eating houses." I was born while they were in Gilt Edge. Later, my sister Lucille Dahl Walker was born. Some of the inter¬esting things that I remember before we left Gilt Edge, I had the pleasure, and I do remember this, that I had ridden on a stagecoach. I rode on the stage¬coach, this was in 1907 or 1908. I wish I could remember the driver's name. I sat up on the seat with him, and he said to me, "You take a hold of my arm, and if we hit a bump on the road, you won't fall off." So I took a hold of his arm, and when we hit a bump then he just gave me a little push, and back up on the seat I'd go. I am so glad that I can remember this trip from Gilt Edge, over the mountains into Lewistown.
Zellick: The stagecoach route from Gilt Edge to Lewistown is not at all where the present highway is located.
Burke: Oh, no. It went over the mountains, the Judith's. The Ed Cooper ranch and home was at the foot of the mountains.
Zellick: The Cooper place is now, I believe, owned by one of the Hutterite Col¬onies. Then up above the Cooper place, I think Donn Pennell has the old McEvony place. You traveled right in front of McEvony house, a white house. It may have been built after the stagecoach route was discontinued.
Burke: There are so many things that I have done, and have forgotten. But that ride, I do remember. I am glad that has stuck in my mind. I do believe, I was into something all the time. I was a busy child. So mother thought I should go to school. I believe I was about 5 years old. The teacher said, "Well, if she doesn't bother, she can come." Well, after one day, that was the end of my scho¬oling for the time being.
Zellick: How come you lasted only one day?
Burke: Well, because the teacher gave me some paper, and a Crayola. I pro¬ceeded to draw. Then I wanted everyone to see my handiwork. So, I think I must have been a pest. And the teachers were very busy teaching five or six grades.
Zellick: Really.
Burke: I wasn't invited to come back the second day!
Burke: My mother, as a restaurant owner and operator, had some interesting experiences. I can remember the stories she told me about the things that happened in Gilt Edge, which would be interesting to other people. At one time, Calamity Jane worked for my mother in her restaurant.
Zellick: As a waitress?
Burke: No, she wasn't a waitress. She was a dishwasher or a cleaner or some¬thing like that. I don't believe mother would let her cook or wait on tables! Calamity Jane was really quite a character. I wished that mother were around so that she could have told you the interesting stories. If I told them, I might get it wrong and I would hate to say something that isn't true. So, Gilt Edge "went to pot". The mines closed down and about everything in the line of business was done in Lewistown. We moved away and that was the end of the Gilt Edge days. I wish that we could tell about all the people living in Gilt Edge and the things that mother could tell. I wish that we had it all down on tape. But, of course, we were not interested as so often it was told and retold and more added on.
Zellick: Do you feel free in saying that, as far as you know, you remember your mother saying that the famous Curry Brothers stayed at here hotel? Burke: Well, as I say, I was quite young. The things that were talked about later on, yes, they were. One thing that I can remember, very definitely, is that one of the Curry boys left a beaver coat with my mother saying that he would either send for it or have it picked up later. After the boys left, bulletins and fliers came out offering rewards. I forget what they called these fliers, "Wanted Bulletins" is what they called them, I believe. Anyway, one identifi¬cation given in these bulletins was a beaver coat. I don't remember if the coat was ever picked up. But I never saw it.
Zellick: Probably this was the first time your mother may have realized that anything was wrong, and that they were real bandits.
Burke: I think that could be right because these boys, apparently, were very friendly and courteous. They were gentlemen. Absolutely. Mother said that there was some talk about them, but she knew nothing about them, other than her contacts she had with them.
Zellick: We always have to bear in mind that out on a frontier, and Central Mont¬ana was that, at that time, all these kinds of experiences were not at all uncomm¬on. Knowing about such matters makes local history that much more fascinating. Were there any other well or outstanding guests who stayed at your mother's hotel besides the Curry Brothers?
Burke: Not to my knowledge. I have no recollection as to anything else or any¬thing more about the Curry boys. I was young when all this happened. A lot of this is hearsay, but according to my recollection, that one incident is all that I know of.
Zellick: Then after Gilt Edge, you came to Lewistown.
Burke: No. My mother went to Trident for a short length of time and worked in the hotel there. Then we moved to Belt where I went to school. Then later we moved to Windham where my father had a ranch. From there, we came to Lewistown in about 1918. I was in the eighth grade, and I went to the Lincoln School.
Zellick: What do you remember about your school days at Lincoln?
Burke: I can't remember her name, but she was a fantastic teacher. I remember that I was having a little trouble with spelling, and I can't spell now. But she tried to help me. I finally eked through on a spelling test. I remember I liked her because she was understanding. The other subjects were easy for me, but not spelling.
Zellick: Then you went on to high school.
Burke: I was always interested in music. I sang. Mr. J.E. Ewer was the vocal teacher. All the way through; from the time I went to high school, we had a sextet. Murna Martin, Edith Moore, Kay Nangle, Dorothy Downing, and Marjory Broke. We went places and sang. At the Judith Theatre, we gdt$5, and had to split it up am/7 us. We went to Denton, we sang before the civic clubs, and also at assemblies. Oh, yes, we did a little dance, but it was far from the Ziegfeld Follies. Then there was also, later on, a boys' quartet. We had a fantastic glee club. I remember, Marion, you sang in the glee club.
M. Burke: You bet your life I did.
Burke: To talk about the school at that time. I think that we had one of the best high schools in the state. Our teachers were devoted. There wasn't a time, in all that we ever would ask them to stay over for help and for coun¬seling. They were there. They were there till 5:30 p.m. If you needed them even longer, they would give you the time. And the kids that graduated, some of them have really gone out into the world, and made big names of themselves. Some are writers, some are actresses, and musicians. Lot of them are outstand¬ing, and they are outstanding, in practically every field that they have one into: cattle raising, ranching, and other occupations, and all around just lovely people.
Zellick: When were you graduated?
Burke: In 1922. Mr. F. L. Cummings was the principal. In our freshman year, we went to the Barracks or "The Tar Paper Palace." Then we went to the new building, the first unit of the present high school. Did we ever feel like we were special people! It stayed that way. One day someone made a mark on the wall. A special assembly was called. Mr. Cummings got up, and he said, "Whoever marked on the that wall, had better come in and tell me, because I will find out who you are, and, if I catch anyone else, you are going to take care of it. And another thing cutting up the desks. Remember, you are in high school. You are not in the small grades where you don't know any better."
Zellick: Well, did anyone come up to talk to Mr. Cumming?
Burke: The mark was taken off, and it was the one, and the only, and the last mark on the wall. We were proud of a good school, and I do believe we all learn¬ed to appreciate nice things.
Zellick: Are there any other interesting remembrances that you might have of your high school days?
Burke: We always had plays. We had lots of dramatics. We had very outstand¬ing dramatics. Each year we had a Junior play, and also a Senior play. There were music festivals, and an outstanding band, and a string quartette. Miss Sue Kenny was in charge of the piano department, and Mr. Jesse Ewer, the vocal. We had a top notch basketball and football teams. Also, there were a lot of real scholars.
Zellick: Can you name some of them?
Burke: I would hate to try to do that because I might mention some and I might not remember all of them. And I would hate to exclude them as I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings. As a general rule, I think, that you can look back, can't you, Marion, and you can see the ones who really made names of themselves. Not probably nationally so much, but they have made names in the communities where they live. They are good outstanding people, and that's all I can say about them in that period. We still have friends. We still get together. We have a group, around 80, that meets every year of those who graduated in the 1920's. We have a banquet down at the Yogo.
Zellick: Do you?
Burke: We don't have any entertainment. Everyone comes, and it's a smorgasbord. We sit down and eat, and all we do is talk and visit. And, of course, we talk about all the crazy things we did together.
Zellick: Is there a written account of those get-togethers in the paper?
Burke: Yes, it is always put in the paper. In our 1922 class, the ones who work on it are Lavelia Roberts, Murna Martin Southworth, Betty Shammel Bessie Blair Martin, and me. We get together, and we make all the arrangements, and we tell the others "You call us, and let us know if you can come." The last time there were 80 people who showed up for this banquet.
Zellick: 80 people! When did you start this?
Burke: We have been doing this since our class held its 50th anniversary. We have been doing this now for five years. People come from Chicago, and also last year Regina Liter came from Santa Barbara, California. Lot of people came from Wyoming. They will write or anytime anyone is around, they will ask when we are going to have our get-together as they want to plan their vacation dates around it!
Zellick: Are you going to meet this year?
Burke: We sure are.
Zellick: When are you going to get together this year?
Burke: I think it is going to be in July. So, anyone, who was in school during the 20's is welcome.
Zellick: Well, I think this is fine. I think it is great.
Burke: It's fantastic. We keep in touch that way and we know what's happening. If someone has sorrow or if something nice happens to anyone, we are able to share with them. That's our life. Somehow we are all very close and that is why we can have these get togethers and stay young.
Zellick: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us? It's touching to learn of your high regard for your excellent teachers and your fond memories of your classmates, not to mention the wonderful activities of music and sports.
Burke: Well, I tell you when you can get a group of people that you have gone to school with in a high school, and you can get them in a crowd, you know that there is a feeling of friendship, and loyalty. I feel that some of the things that we are missing today is some of the basics. We never went out on a bust, we never drank. We didn't smoke. That was one of the things that just wasn't being done. If a boy had a drink, it was usually after a date.
Zellick: Where did you do your dancing?
Burke: Either at the Armory or at the Guild Hall. And then, once in a while, we would go out to the Smart's Barn.
Zellick: Whose barn?
Burke: Smart's Barn
Zellick: Where is that?
Burke: Out by Kolin. By Kolin.
Zellick: Was this the era of the barn dances?
Burke: That was it!
Zellick: There was the Beacon Star Barn at Moore, Heath Barn, Carl Wight's Barn in Ruby Gulch.
Burke: Yes. Then there was Osborne's and Tognetti's Barn.
Zellick: Where was the Osborne Barn?
Burke: Up on Spring Creek on the road to Heath.
Zellick: Then where was the Tognetti Barn?
Burke: It was over on the Judith River.
Zellick: So you kids, the students, would go out to these barn dances? Were the barn dances held during the summer months?
Burke: When it was empty of hay.
Zellick: Who provided the music?
Burke: There were several musicians in the Elks Band, here in town, who would go out and played. This is the way people did. We went out one night. I remember Dick Baker, Elsa O'Brien and I went out to Smart's Barn. And Dick Baker and Mollie, his wife, were out there. The boys that Elsa and I were out with, proceeded to get a little "tipsy". Dick Baker came down from the orchestra platform, and he said to us, "You are not going home with those boys. You are going home with Mollie and me."
Zellick: Did this happen while you were still a student?
Burke: No, we were graduated.
Zellick: Did you go to these barn dances while you were a junior or a sophomore?
Burke: No. Most of the high school kids would go to the dances at the Armory or at the Guild Hall. These dances were chaperoned closely. If a youngster indulged, he was asked to stay away. Usually, those who received little written invitations came. The boys paid a small amount of rentals. Don't you remember, Marion, that there were private parties held sometime in private homes? Clifford Dobson was the organizer of dances.
Zellick: OK. What else do you recollect as a student? Later, we will pick up on your recollections as a wife of a board member.
Burke: Well, I got a job right after I finished school. I worked for the Montana wheat growers. Right after that I worked for Central Trust Band and Trust.
Zellick: Here in Lewistown? Who owned the bank?
Burke: I think Mr. Sam Phillips, and Mr. Skoggs was the cashier. This bank was, originally, the Empire State Bank. Then Marion came back from the university. We had a date, and after going through school and we never could see each other. But somehow, all of a sudden we did and decided to get married. I quit my job, he didn't have one but who cares it worked out.
Zellick: When were you married?
Burke: in 1927.
Zellick: Two years before the nationwide crash on Wall Street. However, times were tough in Montana during the 20's. Some of the local banks failed in 1923. Art
Wiedeman, in his interview, stated that the Bank of Fergus County held the papers for the other local banks and it held out, after the others had failed, as long as it could.
Burke: Marion, can't you remember?
Marion Burke: Yes. My dad had sent me a check when I was at the university. The banker in Missoula told me, "Your bank, at home, is broke."
Zellick: When was this?
M. Burke: 1925. The banker said "But I will advance you whatever money I need." He was real nice about it. Even though the checks were no good, he told me to bring my checks in.
Zellick: Your family reputation must have been sound. Your word was your bond and in those years, that was all that you needed. Well, anyway, you got married in 1927.
Burke: Marion couldn't find a job, besides shoveling coal. So, we decided that we would go to California. Marion's father furnished us a car. We were supposed to pay him back so much a month. So we started out for California without a map, and all we had was 850. We went and wound up in San Francisco.
Zellick: What was the make of the car you traveled in?
Burke: A Pontiac. A little Pontiac coupe.
Zellick: Did it have glass doors or windows?
Burke: Yes. Then we went to Bakersfield, California. Marion got a job on a shearing crew. And we sheared down there in the desert among the oil wells. And cold, oh, my goodness. My goodness it was so cold. There were some old derricks. All the crew chopped out some wood from these old derricks and we made fires during the evening. There was one other couple, beside Marion and me. The rest of the crew were Mexican men. There was a Mexican cook, a lady. Mar¬ion being dark and having taken Spanish in Fergus County High School, he would try to speak to these Mexicans. And they would laugh and laugh. No fault of school.
Zellick: Marion's education at Fergus came in handily after all.
Burke: Well, Marion took some Spanish in college as well as at Fergus. Well, anyway, they nearly died laughing. Really, they liked us, but they didn't like the other couple, for some reason or other. I'm sure it was because we were from the west.
Zellick: Then you returned to Lewistown.
Burke: No, we went to Salt Lake where Marion was going to try to get another job shearing. And when we got to Salt Lake, the man that was with us went down to the Union Shearing Office. There was a message that Marion's father had died. This was 1928.
Zellick: Then you returned to Lewistown, and took up the sheep business. You encountered bad weather, extremely bad weather as you trailed your sheep to Roy. Burke: I tell you during those times, it was really really bad. You just lived. We already spoke of the Bartholomews. He was the art instructor at the Fergus County High. I had a dress, and Peg, his wife, had a dress. And between the two of them, we put the material together to make us a party dress that we could wear when we were invited someplace. She would call me and say, "Are you going to wear the dress tomorrow? And I would say "no". Then she would say, "Then, I guess I will because we are invited out."
Zellick: In other words, you and Mrs. Bartholomew shared the same party dress? What year was this, can you remember?
Burke: No, just that it was during the depression. Really, we had fun. We would get together. Someone would call and say, "What do you have to eat?" I would say, "Well, we have some scraps of mutton. I can put them in the oven and bake them." Somebody else would say, "Well, we have some homemade bread" or somebody would say, "We have a home baked cake." Or somebody would have a pie. Then we would all get together and have dinner. For games, we would play charades. And that was our entertainment.
Zellick: The Bartholomews participated in these events with you?
Burke: Yes, they did.
Zellick: This is interesting because I remember Mr. Bartholomew as being a very fine art teacher. Very highly respected. I had no idea that he, a teacher, was having such a hard time to live. What I do remember is that he delivered a speech at one of the last assemblies for the year. It could have been in the spring of 1934. At any rate, he was a trimly, neatly dressed man. Impeccable. He wore a brown suit. And he had a pink carnation in his lapel. I can't remember a thing about his speech. But he closed his speech by pointing to his carnation saying, "Please don't remember your art teacher as wearing a pink carnation with a brown suit." In those days, red and pink colors, apparently, were not combined with brown colors. So, here we are, the Bartholomews socialized with you, the Burkes, in charades and so on.
Burke: Yes, that was a favorite game among all the young married couples. There was no expense involved in acting. There just wasn't any money. So if you wanted or did anything, you did it yourself or did without. You couldn't hire anyone, because you didn't have the dollar to pay them. Money was tight. Ola May Hogeland and Frank Hogeland, Ruth and Ernest Robinson were some of the friends who made life fun, when we were all broke.
Zellick: It should be pointed out that the Hogelands and the Robinsons were very well known people. I have interviewed the Hogelands. Ernest Robinson was the assistant Principal of the high school where he was in charge of the physical science department. He held these positions for many years, around thirty, I think. Ruth, his wife, was a history teacher. She married "Robbie" after she came to Fergus High. Since there was a policy forbidding married women to teach, except under very extraordinary circumstances, Ruth had to give up her job. She did, however, substitute teach. It is interesting to have your recollections of your friends and how they helped you during those trying years. Having no money forced the people at that time to be resourceful. For instance, didn't you have to trail your own sheep to Roy?
M. Burke: We had no summer range because it was so dry, so we trailed our sheep forty miles north of Roy. We were looking for summer pasture. And this man came along and he said, "have lots of summer pasture". He quoted me a price which I thought reasonable and he also said, "If you take my place, you got the water, and there is all kinds of land around there. You're in the business". Well, we got down there with the sheep. We trailed them. When we got down there where I was supposed to camp 1 could count eight other sheep camps around me. Mr. A. C. Carmichael was down there with a bunch of sheep. And I thought, "What will I do because there wasn't enough pasture on what we had to do me". And 1 would go out there regularly to see the sheepherder. One time, when I went out, he said, "You know, we will have to move these sheep because they just about have this grass all gone, and if you will bring me a tent, Carmichael has a section. There hasn't been a thing on there all summer, and I'll stay up there and we can work back and forth to water". So I did, and that's how we got through the summer.
Zellick: We should mention that this was forty miles north of Roy and, again, this happened in the early 1930's.
Burke: And how you got there was by walking the sheep. Then Marion had to build sheds and corrals out there for shearing purposes. We hauled the wool into Lewistown by truck.
Zellick: The Fergus County high School graduates found this extremely challenging, didn't they?
Burke: As we look back now, it was fun. We were young.
Zellick: Then you went into the dairy business with your husband.
Burke: Yes. Everyone did everything. You did everything. Mrs. Burke Sr. helped also.
Zellick: Did she help you?
Burke: Yes, she did. God love her.
Zellick: You didn't have the milking machines?
Burke: Not at the beginning.
Zellick: How could you milk the cows by hand when you had many customers in town?
Burke: Well, there were also two creameries in town. They were getting milk from local farmers. In those days, you had to do things yourself. There just wasn't the money to pay for help.
M. Burke: I milked fourteen cows twice a day for seven years. By the time I acquired a milking machine, I had 25 cows. I got so that I couldn't stand it anymore. My arms gave out. Then we had to go to the machines.
Burke: I can't remember when we first got the small machines.
M. Burke: I can remember that we bought the machines and a few other things. All on time. One day I said to Esther, "You know it is costing us $100 a month for making time payments, $5 here and $10 there". We were operating on time payments.
Burke: That's the first debt that we went in on a large scale. I remember one time before that, even; one night we went to bed. I noticed that Marion wasn't sleeping. I had just awakened and I said, "What in the world, Marion, is the matter with you? Can't you sleep?" He said, 'Esther, we owe $10,000, and I don't know how in the Hell we are going to pay it!"
Zellick: But you stuck by, and you managed. You did it. You paid off the debt. With this type of a background, going through all these enterprises, having your resourcefulness taxed to the hilt, one might say, and then one day, you found yourself a wife of a school board member.
Burke: I really think, if you look back, the only thing we regret is when we lost our baby girl.
Zellick: I certainly know how you feel about that loss. But your other daughter, Terrie did go through the school system, graduating from Fergus County High School in 1963.
Burke: These were trying times when Marion was serving on the board. In the early 1950's, I think. Like I say, I was not on the school board, anything I would say would be misconstrued. So I stayed away from anyone that there would ever be any reason for them to bring up the subject. Our friends knew, of course, and understood. But someone outside, wouldn't so our life during that period was pretty bad.
Zellick: Am I at liberty to record this and inquire what this conflict was all about? Are you at liberty to tell me what this conflict was all about?
Burke: I only wished that we knew. Because 1 had gone to some of the friends who were opposed to some of the school board's decisions, and I would say, "Will you please tell me why all this trouble?" Their response was, "If you knew what we knew, you would feel that same way". We never found out what they knew. And they wouldn't tell us.
Zellick: Isn't this interesting? What was the date of this conflict?
M. Burke: It was some time after C. G. Manning left.
Zellick: He left, I believe, in 1949. It's been a real pleasure to be here this morning to visit with both of you, Ester and Marion. I want to thank you very much, on the part of Dr. Ron Mattson and School District No. One for your willingness to share with us your memories of your educational career in the local school system.
Burke: Well, Anna, I am so glad that Marion and I have been able to go through the schools and to live all these years here in Lewistown seeing all of our friends, and their children, and their children's children, brought up and educated here, and to feel that we are a part of the community in everything that happens, good or bad, affect us. And we hope that the other people will feel the same way towards us.
Zellick: I'm sure that they do. Thank you again
TABLE OF TAPE CONTENTS
Tape Number 1
Narrator: Esther Dahl Burke Occupation: Housewife Address: 815 7th Avenue North; Lewistown, MT 59457
Length: 45 min.
Date of Interview: June 20, 1978 Session 1 Place: Burke Home
Recollections of Gilt Edge Days
Title or Subject: Recollections of School Days through graduation from F.C.H.S. 1922
Interviewer: Anna Zellick, F.C.H.S, Grad., 1935. Others Present: Marion, husband. U. of Chicago A.B., 1941; M.A. 1945. Lecturer, College of Great Falls, Lewistown College Center on Special Assignment for Dr. Ronald B. Mattson, Supt.
Contents:
60-70 Childhood: Born Sept. 9, 1903. Delivered by Dr. H.H. Wilson.
Parents owned and managed Claremont House in Gilt Edge, a ghost gold mining town.
Came from Nebraska.
Started West when married - Wash.
Where Melvin and Cassie Dahl Pepper were born. Came to Kendall, ghost gold mining town. Then to Gilt Edge. Lucille Dahl Walker, born.
Interesting events at Gilt Edge.
Rode on stage coach to Lewistown.
Stage Coach route over the mts. via Cooper ranch at the foot of the mts. Now owned by Hutterites.
Traveled in front. McEvony place now owned by Donn Pennell. Busy child. Attends school at 41/2 for one day.
Min. Counter Tape 2 Side A
0-10 Gilt Edge
Calamity Jane works for mother. Curry Brothers hotel guests. A beaver coat left. Wanted Bulletins, Courteous. "Gilt Edge goes to pot"
10-20 Moves to Trident, Belt, Windham, and Lewistown. Attends 8th grade at Lincoln School, 1918. A fantastic teacher.
20-30 F.C.H,S. Music: J.E. Ewer, voice teacher. Sextet. Murna Martin Southworth, and Edith Moore. Boys quartette and fantastic glee club. One of the best high schools in the state. Excellent willing teachers work overtime. Outstanding students who did well in life. Many Scholars. Graduated in 1922.
30-40 Attended in new building (after Tar Paper Palace).
F.L. Cummings, principal.
Counter Tape 2 Side A
Cummings calls a special assembly. "No cutting up of desks and marking of walls". Dramatics.
Band. Reunions: Graduates of the 1920's meet annually, since 1972. "Get togethers", just visit.
Lavelia Roberts, Murna Martin Southworth, Betty Shammel McMillan, Bessie Blair Martin (1922 grad.) plan. 80 people attend. People from all over attend. Regina Liter from Santa Barbara, CA.
Feeling of friendship and loyalty. Didn't smoke. Drink, if at all, only after a date. Social Dancing:
Armory and Guild Hall. Smart's Barn at Kolin. Era of Barn Dances, held when barns empty.
Osborne's, Heath, and Tognetti on Judith Basin.Ochestra. Dick and Mollie Baker, takes me and Elsa O'Brien home. Dates a "little tipsy". Attended Barn Dances right after high school. Regularly attended at Armory, Guild Hall and Country. Club. Private Parties.
50-60 After graduation:
Worked for Montana Wheat growers' and Central Bank, formerly Empire State Bank.
Married Marion Burke, 1927. "I quit my job and he didn't have one". Went to California with $50.00, no map, in a car loaned by Burke Sr. Description of car. Tough times – 1925. Sheep shearing in California, 1927, with Mexicans. Dark complexioned Marion makes hit with his F.C.H.S Spanish. Return to Montana to carry on with sheep business. Burke Sr. dies.
Min. Counter Tape 2 Side A
60-70 Tough times.
Shared a party dress with Mrs. C.B. Bartholomew. Potluck suppers and charades,
No money - "You did it". Trailed sheep to 40 mile north of Roy for summer range. Found eight sheep camps, including Carmichael. Dairying "Everybody did everything", No milking machines, Marion milks 14 cows twice a day for 7 years by hand. Milk also supplied by the creameries, Milking machines purchased on time. $100.00 a month on assigned payments. Can't sleep. $10,000 in debt. Daughter, Terry attends local schools.
Counter Tape 2 Side B
0-10 Trial and tribulations of Board Members, Conflict in 1950's. After C. G Manning departed never knew the causes. Grateful of experiences